Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called on Wednesday for a “negotiated, peaceful, and democratic solution” in Venezuela, following the latest threats from US President Donald Trump, who announced his intention to launch a military attack against Venezuelan territory “very soon.”
“The crisis in Venezuela must be resolved peacefully,” the minister declared in Brussels upon his arrival at the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. “We have a consistent position regarding Venezuela,” he affirmed. “The crisis in Venezuela must be resolved peacefully, with a democratic solution, and above all, a genuinely Venezuelan one, reached through dialogue,” he continued.
“You will never find Spain fanning the flames against any Latin American brother country, whatever it may be,” Albares warned, adding that he is “closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela.” “Spain will always stand on the side of negotiated, peaceful, and democratic solutions,” he stated.
“I insist, I believe that what we must all aspire to for the Venezuelan people is to find a democratic solution to their crisis, through dialogue and negotiation among Venezuelans,” and one that “respects International Law,” Albares declared. “I discuss this with both the Venezuelan government and the opposition; I do so publicly, I have done so since the first day I was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain,” he added.
According to the minister, in Venezuela “there is a huge Spanish community” and in Spain there is “a large Venezuelan community.” “When I think of Venezuela, of the Venezuelan people, just as with the rest of our sister nations in Latin America, I think of our brothers and sisters, and I want for them exactly the same thing I want for the Spanish people,” he affirmed.
Regarding the possible support of NATO member states for a potential US military intervention in Venezuela, Albares reiterated that this country “is not within NATO’s sphere of influence or NATO’s actions, nor will it be discussed at this time.”
US President Donald Trump asserted on Tuesday that his country will launch ground attacks against Venezuelan drug cartels “very soon,” as part of Operation Southern Spear, which to date has resulted in the destruction of some 20 vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific and nearly 80 deaths, according to US figures. “We’re going to start carrying out those attacks on land as well. It’s much easier; we know the routes they use, and we know everything about them,” Trump declared during a cabinet security meeting broadcast by the White House.
